To tell the unconventional truth, respecting no one who does not respect Cuba or the Cuban people's right to freedom.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Joe Papp's Cuban Odyssey

The temptation was really great to title this post "Romeo and Yuliet," but I disdain the facile (cursi in Spanish), even if, as in this case, it's a pretty good snapshot of reality. Like the characters in Shakepeare's play, Joe Papp and Yuliet Rodríguez's story is simple though not on that account less poignant: an American young man falls in love with a Cuban girl; but their love is thwarted not by their parents but by the "Father of All Cubans," who is not in the least adverse to allowing the sale of "his" children to old depraved men like himself in order to promote tourism to his floating plantation, but not in the least open to allowing love to run its normal course when it involves one of his slaves and an "abolitionist devil" from up North. Yes, Fidel Castro can be quite possessive about certain slaves, especially his most prized ones, the athletes who compete for his greater glory and represent in themselves his most successful experiment in social engineering.

Cuban athletes are champions. Fidel's cows never were. Cows were always his passion, not people. He would have preferred to create a "New Cow" than a "New Man." But the only "new cow" that he ever managed to bioengineer, the immortal Ubre Blanca, was barren. The "New Man" was the consolation prize. The exemplars of these "New Men" and "New Women" are his stable of athletes. Yuliet Rodríguez was one, Cuba's 12-time cycling champion. She was not expected to fall in love with a young American cyclist and want to leave Castro's "Socialist Paradise," but she did.

Joe and Yuliet met at a cycling event in Havana in 2001. They pursued their courtship in a dozen countries, wherever Yuliet travelled abroad to represent Cuba at cycling meets. Everywhere that she went she tried to defect without much success, or, rather, with tragic results. From Russia, she tried unsuccessfully to reach Italy, where Joe lay injured in hospital after a bicycle crash. On a return flight home from Spain, after another competition, she tried to defect during a pitstop in Mexico and was offered the option of returning to Cuba or being sent to Venezuela. In Venezuela, she went into hiding. Joe and Yuliet had already married in 2004 but it did not avail Yuliet much with U.S. authorities, who did nothing to expedite the visa of an American citizen's wife. Fearing that Yuliet would soon be captured and deported to Cuba, Joe spent his last dime trying to get her smuggled to the U.S. from Venezuela. He went to Kennedy Airport to wait for her but she never appeared. Only later did he learn that she had been apprehended by Venezuelan authorities and summarily deported to Cuba, where, of course, she immediately became persona non grata, without even the miserable stipend that she had received as an athlete from the regime.

Yuliet was pregnant and close to giving birth. Joe sent several thousand dollars to Cuba so that she would have money to subsist and be able to pay for the delivery, or, to be more precise, so that she could bribe the doctors so that her baby wouldn't be aborted without her knowledge, as is routinely the case in Cuba with difficult deliveries, as hers promised to be. The money was stolen by the person who was entrusted to take it to Cuba. Yuliet literally spent her final trimester in a state of near starvation. The baby -- this little American citizen, Joe Papp Jr. -- was born prematurely by Caesarian section in Havana. Miraculously (because there is a God who does not always turn his back on the innocent), the baby survived. Yuliet is still waiting to be reunited with her husband and Joe Sr. to meet his son.

Needless to say, Joe's experiences with the Castro regime have given him a perspective on it that no other American enjoys and few Cuban exiles. And he has not remained quiet. Perhaps because he's an American and can't easily be silenced. He has done everything in his power to publicize his Yuliet's plight. Others may perhaps have advised caution, as this case might have been easier to "solve" without publicity. But I think Joe was right. The only protection that Yuliet enjoys is that she is the wife of a U.S. citizen and his son that he is an American citizen. To make that fact known as widely as possible is Joe's only defense against the kidnappers of his wife and son. In this he has been greatly assisted by the fact that he is a gifted writer and his own best advocate. He has chosen, however, to be something more: an advocate for the freedom of the entire Cuban people. His identification with our cause and passion for Cuba is such that he reminds me of Henry Reeve. Those acquainted with Reeve's history know that it is impossible to praise Papp more.

His blog I also recommend in the highest terms. It is there where you can discover for yourself his love for Cuba and the Cuban people and the vast resources of his intellect and his heart. Some day, perhaps, he will hang up his bicycle and give a workout to his hands on the keyboard as strenuous as he is wont to give his legs on the peddles.

I know that there are some who think I don't like Americans, but really it is the "Ugly American" that I dislike. The "Ugly American" is not the prototypical American by any means. Sadly, Cuba has suffered greatly and suffers still by the actions of a few "Ugly Americans." Joe and other Americans like him compensate for their crimes and represent a more hopeful epoch in Cuban-American relations which will dawn once Cuba is free.

58 comments:

I will take onto my own to thank you Manuel on behalf of Yuliet, Joseph Davide, and Joe Papp. I know that Joe will forgive me for thanking you for this article. From the bottom of my heart, thanks for making he Oddissey of the Papps known.

The story of Joe and Yuliet reached us (CB and I) in one of our daily private emails. Joe was reaching for help, any help. It felt like the last gasps of a drowning man. Although we tend to stay at the periphery of such dramatic incidents, there was “something” about Joe that reached beyond sympathy or humanity. In Joe’s story was captured the barbarism of a communist nightmare. In Joe we saw the complete opposite of that which was discussed on the last post , an American man who became Cuban , body and soul. Who traveled to Cuba and instead of becoming a useful idiot, became the REAL nemesis of KaSStro on the internet. His story began coming to us in digestible snippets and as it progressed it became a an epic of overwhelming proportions. For a while we put most of our daily Cuba issues aside and fell into Joe’s and Yuliet’s odyssey , bringing them into our lives as one would a family member. With each email, we would go from total despair to complete elation, only to begin the cycle over and over again. Joe and I had a similar story regarding our respective wives but I was quite lucky , my wife was a simple “nutritionist” at a candy factory ( yes , that is an actual job in Kuba !)Joe's was a worldclass champion cyclist,but I had dealt with enough red-tape both from KaSStro-Kuba and the USA that I felt a few of my better shortcuts and almost illegal actions to get my wife out could work for Joe.As we went through this, the saga became so dark, that I believe very few people really know the totality of Joe and Yuliet’s pain. Joe and I spoke on the phone and we would go from incendiary anger towards KaSStro to almost childlike weeping. I do hope Joe sees fit to one day put the whole story to paper. A lot of the more cynical will claim it is a fabrication , but I can assure you that the darkness of this tragedy was related to us as it happened and we saw enough proof of their suffering , the deceptions that were inflicted upon them , the anguish , the doubts , the hope and then again the darkness. Through it all Joe’s story became in the eyes of the “ELITE” a bit of an exaggeration and as they raised an doubtful eyebrow my conviction of the historical humanity of their tale became more and more steadfast.They were both unyielding, trapped in a circle of intrigue worthy of the best spy novels somehow, cracks of light and hope would shine. Until the day that he (we) lost track of Yuliet. There began the campaign of “WHERE IS YULIET”The resolution to that is so compelling that again only Joe and Yuliet could make it justice. I sat with my wife day after day discussing, planning, strategizing, making assumptions, and having our Cuban contacts investigate as deep as they could. And I came to the point where I admitted to myself that I did not think I had the sheer will to continue if we were in their place. One day a recording of Yuliet reached Joe and he was kind enough to share it with us. My wife broke down in tears and I was overwhelmed as to their love for each other.This saga has lasted years. I had become an absolute believer of Joe’s integrity, fortitude undying love for his bride and I consider him a friend. When the news of Yuliet’s pregnancy reached us, it was not only cause for celebration but a divine sign of the power of love. When Yuliet’s health began to fail, after months of hiding, trips across the island , finding friends in unexpected places and discovering enemies in her most intimate circles, what should been Joe’s desolation , became Joe’s best hour. Great men are not born; they become great during moments of uncommon peril. And Joe Papp became a great man right in front of our eyes.

Yuliet, Joes and Joseph Davide story seems to have resolved itself into a happy ending. We all share in this happiness. I don’t think that anyone who was part of this tale could’ve accepted anything else.As this happened the Kuban government any government that is not a democracy will suffer Joe’s condemnation and his words can be as damaging as heavy artillery. So we have gained a TRUE Cuban in this saga, one who although born in the USA has given his allegiance to Cuba, has committed his life to the Cuban cause . In my book Joe Papp has achieved what few have, he has become one of Cuba’s best. And as we feel honored to have been born in Cuba, we also feel honored he has chosen Cuba as HIS country.

Woe to the foreigner who falls in love with one of Castro's best, the story of Joe and Yuliet is so poignant it disturbs the mind, to think that Yuliet almost starved because a thieve took her money, makes one despair.

Also the story of Dr Molina is as disturbing, not being allowed to travel to Argentina to meet her grandchildren, because the regime claims "it owns her mind" guess the regime feels "it owns Yuliet's legs" I'm so sorry Joe.

Back in 2006, Val Prieto did hold a fundraiser at Babalú for Joe Papp. The fundraiser, Val later acknowledged, alerted Cuban officials that Yuliet had defected in Venezuela and led directly to her capture, imprisonment and deportation to Cuba.

In Val's own words:

"I haven't written about this as I think the entries published here asking for help may have led to Yuliet's problems with Venezuelan and Cuban authorities. I can't help but think, given the clandestine nature of the communications between parties involved and the somewhat covert circumstances, that the only way this situation could have come to the attention of the Venezuelan and Cuban authorities was through the postings on this blog." -- Val Prieto, "Joe and Yuliet," Babalú, Oct. 18, 2006

Here is the fake comment posted by someone masquerading as Joe Papp at 7:06 PM, which the imposter saw fit to delete after being exposed as a fraud:

Val and Babalu get a lot of shit here, but I will say that when Yuliet was on the run, Val organized a fundraiser for us that really helped out financially. That was the a period he and I communicated regularly and I was surprised by how much time and effort he dedicated to us.

No truth WHATSOEVER Joe is very much enjoying the company of his wife and child and here's a pic (joepapp.blogspot.com) posted today of his gorgeous son to prove it.I guess that somehow he has already made some very unscrupulous enemies within the vipers nest, not strangers to intrigue, lies and deception.

Ah, now someone takes it on Joe Papp and his family, shooting barbs from the darkness. Fortunately, Joe is embarked in the most noble mission a man can undertake, he's saving his family. And yes, we will hunt down whoever is spewing these rumors on Joe, because whoever is doing that is not just a vulgar tool of the communist regime, he is a willing agent and thug at their service.

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